Reflection Rewarded

Waiting 2 days for a game is tough. Waiting three is torturous. 4? Cruel and unusual.

But my impatient qualms are my own, as I’m sure there are yours. They are not the Kings’.

This long break comes at the perfect time. The Kings have split two games they have played below their level of expectation. Vancouver played to their liking after a shot in the arm from the return of Daniel Sedin. While there are those who believe momentum accounts for nothing, be it in game or from one to the next, this extended delay before game 5 benefits the Kings. A time to reflect, a time to refocus, a time to align themselves for the kill.

Vancouver would have wanted to go again right away, lash out at what doubts crept into the minds of the Kings after losing 3-1 in front of the home crowd and failing to close out the series in a sweep. History momentarily rebuffed. When you begin to get on a roll you want to get right back out there and keep on spinning but instead the Canucks have had nothing but time to realize what a dire situation in which they find themselves. For once, the NHL schedule that plays second fiddle to everything and anything else people pay tickets to see works in our favor. The Kings have had time to get back to practice, back to basics and back to what got them a 3-0 lead in the first place.

I expect a calm, cool and collected Kings team to take the ice in Vancouver tomorrow at 5pm. I expect an anxious and subconsciously terrified Canucks team to come out swinging. I expect them to make mistakes and for us to punish. I expect us to goad and them to retaliate. I expect a repeat of game 1.

Take in this gorgeous Los Angeles day Kings fans and know that tomorrow it will be gloomy in Vancouver, despite the weather.

17 replies

1) They get healthier. With Daniel coming back, he gets what, 4 more days of R&R. Which coincides with reason number 2.
2) The Canucks had their regular lines out last game. They may not have played great wiith him back, but they also were shorthanded for a bit while he was recovering. The added extra practice days will only help their lines mesh and gel more cohesively.
3)The Canucks have nothing to lose. Sure, they were heavy favorites, but that was 4 games ago. Now the momentum has shifted towards the Kings to win. Now the pressure is on the Kings, not the Canucks. The first and last games are usually the hardest to win. Canucks won their first, Kings weren’t able to win their last. Vancouver can play their own style of game that has obviously been effective all season. Playoffs are a different story, and I understand that. But Vancouver has too much firepower to be shut out like they pretty much have been.
4) Schneider is obviously going to start every remaining game, in this series at least. He will have a majority of the minutes in practice taking shots, etc. and not Luongo. This, in theory, will help him out moreso than Quick who is our obvious #1.

I don’t want to write a book on this, so I will leave the reasons at 4 as to why the layoff favors the Canucks over the Kings.

Anyone going to the game or to a bar or something in Vancouver? Let me know. I live in Portland, OR and was thinking of driving up there for the day.

1) I considered that. Daniel looked healthy enough last game and really the Kings just to need lean into him. Daniel is dangerous no matter what so I’m not overly concerned with the R an R. They took their time letting him heal so I bet he was pretty close to 100% in game 4. If anything the guy just needs more game time, towards which the layoff is counterproductive.
2) not a big deal. That team is cohesive and has played together long enough where chemistry isn’t ever far off for them.
3). this point is totally irrelevant to the layoff. Pressure is still very much on the Canucks.
4) I find this point to be wholly superfluous. Schneider has been good and isn’t going to be much different because of an extra practice or two. Kings will have no trouble with Schneider so long as they crash the net and hassle him in tight, which they did not do at all in game 4.

But would Bernier play better if he was a number one? Or as a backup? I’m not saying this or the other issues are huge, but aside from a top player or two being injured and not appearing in the series, there are no big issues. It’s all about the intangibles.

Bernier would play better presumably if he was a starter, not on the bench as a back up. So knowing he is starting now probably gives Schneider that little bit extra of confidence.

You are vastly underestimating Sedin’s return and what it means to the team. Take a look at Jeff Carter for example. Where were we before and after Carter became a team? Where were we when Carter was injured? I won’t say Carter’s absense cost us the 1st seed, but it sure didn’t help. Role players don’t matter so much. Stars do.

As I say this, don’t take it the wrong way, I don’t mean it as a Dutch’ism. But if you watched Vancouver hockey at all this year, you know Daniel is as, if not more, valuable than anyone else on the team. They are a different team with him out. Now that he is in, they will be a different team as well.

As far as the pressure goes, you’re right, pressure is on both teams. But I think the Kings have more pressure to close it out (At this point) than the Canucks do to win 4 in a row.

Bernier played 16 games this season. Schneider played 33. You can’t compare the two in that sense.

And I’m not understating Sedin’s return. I’m understating the benefit of the 4 day layoff. Sedin’s return is no bigger tomorrow for the Canucks than it already was on Wednesday. His return was huge for them, but the return already happened, there isn’t some extra boost the team gets from his 2nd game back than they did from the 1st.

I don’t want calm, cool and collected. I want them to take the ice with nothing but destruction in their hearts and minds. I want a 6 man wrecking crew. Yes 6. The goalie can be a part of the wrecking crew by setting up a brick wall in front of the net. When the other team starts to get the thought in the back of their minds that they’re shooting at a brick wall, we’re bringing them to the brink of insanity.

I want our forwards and D to utterly destroy anything in their path, creating turnovers, running and gunning the shit down their throats to a series ending victory. I’m hoping our boys have an appetite for destruction come Sunday and this appetite won’t be satisfied until that 16th win comes.

I feel good sbout tomorrow’s game as well.
I think our Boys will be back on task. I did not think
we played at all well Wednesday. Surly you were kind with your analysis.
Tomorrow I expect to see:
The puck possession we have developed to return.
Forechecking esp in the Neutral zone.
More aggressiveness period.
We can do this..
GO KINGS GO!!!

Agree with the delay helping us. The momentum and emotional boost the casucks got from that game has been put on hold. It’s getting stale and moldy. This could have easily snow balled on the kings and they would have found themselves looking at a game 6 or 7. It could have gotten away from them without time to stop and reset the mental focus.
You’re right now they have time to reflect and time to really think about how they can’t let this slip through their fingers.

My only real concern is schneider. If he keeps playing the way he has he could steal this thing for them. I hope quick rises to the challenge and doesn’t let schneider grab the headline away from him.